Email Newsletter July 2016

This email newsletter is the notification of the Plant nutrition courier 2016-1-2 issue that has just been published.

Is there an app for that? App stores have countless applications for mobile devices. The number of plant nutrition related applications increases rapidly. However, specific apps to detect nutrient deficiencies are still in its infancy, according to a quick scan by Plant nutrition courier.
Plant nutrition courier starts a series of news items, articles and reviews of plant nutrition related applications for mobile devices. Some of these apps are very useful, others are ‘nice to know’. News and reviews of plant nutrition related apps will be interspersed with information about other useful apps. Plant nutrition courier will have an eye for both cutting edge applications, handy calculators and all in between.

A Washington State University biologist has found what he calls “very strong support” for an 86-year-old hypothesis about how nutrients move through plants. His two-decade analysis of the phenomenon has resulted in a useful suite of research techniques. Photograph: Washington State University

Modern maize hybrids produce more plant material and take up, on average, the same amount of nitrogen as earlier varieties, according to a recently finished study. The study suggests reserving a portion of nitrogen fertiliser to apply later in the season could be a good bet for growers.

Argentinian researchers are working on an indicator of the phosphorus status of potato crops. The Plant nutrition courier reports about this research.
Other potato nutrition news: Old and new potato cultivars differ in nitrogen response and sensor-equipped drones observe Dutch ware and starch potato fertilisation experimental fields.

Producers of container-grown landscape plants often use fertilisers to ensure that consumers take home healthy, vigorous plants. This ‘residual fertiliser’ adds value to plants by extending the benefits beyond the greenhouse. A study recommends the best fertiliser strategies to give plants staying power and add value for consumers.

Selenium stimulates the antioxidant defence system in tomato plants. In this way, selenium makes the fruits more resistant to postharvest decay caused by gray mold (Botrytis cinerea). The Plant nutrition courier reports in the double thick 2016-1-2 issue also about other beneficial effects of selenium on tomato.

• Better soil data key for future food security
• Excess phosphorus detectable in cow faeces
• Standardization of biochar analysis
• Indicator of soil nitrogen supply
• Using espresso machines for soil analysis

• Micronutrients just delivered in time
• Micronutrient chelate mixtures for soilless cultures at high pH
• Granular NPK coated with manganese
• Scientists develop method to produce ammonia using sunlight
• Seed coating with micron- and nano-scale zinc oxide
• Zinc-amino acid chelates for seed priming differ in yield and quality effects
• Copper sulphate is toxic to stingless bees

• New process for environmentally friendly phosphorus recovery
• How APP outperforms MAP and DAP on calcareous soils
• Special issue on phosphorus use and mobilisation strategies
• Huge phosphorus ‘tax’ on intensification of tropical farming
• Mapping the alarming loss of phosphorus in global grasslands

• Precrop determines root diameter of subsequent crop
• Small phosphorus dose on rice nursery bed
• Manure injection below maize seed row
• Plants force fungal partners to behave fairly
• Plant growth responses to high carbon dioxide depend on symbiotic fungi
• Sludge-derived fertiliser can pose risk to human fertility, sheep study finds
• Farms have become a major air-pollution source
• ‘Climate-smart soils’ may help balance the carbon budget

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